Radio Broadcasting Stations (U.S.) — NAICS 51611

An investor's primer for public-market and private investors

This is a short rollup page. NAICS (the North American Industry Classification System) code 51611 — Radio Broadcasting Stations — is a five-digit "NAICS industry" that contains exactly one six-digit child, 516110 (Radio Broadcasting Stations). Because the level and its single child cover the same activity, this page gives only the rollup's own official figures and the essentials, then points you to the full 516110 primer for detail on the investable universe, economics, regulation, and outlook.

1. Overview

Radio broadcasting stations own and operate over-the-air AM (amplitude-modulation) and FM (frequency-modulation) signals — the local stations that fill cars, kitchens, and workplaces with music, talk, news, and sports, and increasingly stream the same content online and publish podcasts. It is an old, cash-generative, advertising-funded business managing a slow secular decline in its core over-the-air (OTA) product while trying to shift revenue toward digital audio [1].

Radio still reaches roughly 91% of Americans every month — wider than any other single medium — and holds the largest share of ad-supported audio listening, yet OTA advertising is shrinking and most large operators carry heavy debt from two decades of consolidation [1][2]. For both public-market and private investors, that makes this a field of cash-rich but leveraged local businesses where capital structure often matters as much as station quality.

2. What's inside — and why this level equals its one child

At the five-digit level, NAICS 51611 has a single member: six-digit 516110, Radio Broadcasting Stations. There are no sibling industries to aggregate, so the rollup is a pass-through — its scope, economics, and statistics are identical to the child's.

Scope (from the child): establishments primarily engaged in broadcasting aural (audio) programs to the public over the AM and FM bands — commercial and noncommercial stations, their studios, and transmission facilities; a station may also stream its signal online [3].

What sits just outside (adjacent NAICS 2022 codes, so you know what this level does not include): 516120 (Television Broadcasting Stations); 516210 (Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers) — where internet-only radio, streaming-music services such as Spotify and Pandora, satellite audio (SiriusXM), and standalone podcast networks land; and the 512240/512250 sound-recording codes (making music, not broadcasting it).

For everything beyond this summary — ownership mix, company-by-company detail, and the full analysis — see the 516110 primer.

3. How big it is (this level's figures)

Federal statistics for NAICS 51611 are the same as for 516110, since the two are one and the same. Ground-truth figures for this five-digit level:

Concentration is moderate-to-high: the largest 4 firms took 42.6% of industry receipts, the top 8 52.0%, the top 20 66.8%, and the top 50 76.3% in 2022 [3]. The Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI, the standard concentration statistic) is suppressed in the federal data for this level, so we state no value.

(Establishment, employment, and payroll counts — from County Business Patterns — sit in the 516110 primer; our ground-truth stats file for this five-digit level carries only the Economic Census receipts, firm count, and concentration ratios above.)

Undercount caveat. These figures mainly capture commercial employer establishments and understate radio's real footprint. The noncommercial/public sphere — roughly a third of all licensed stations, run as university, community, tribal, and religious nonprofits — is largely outside these commercial receipts, and the physical medium is far larger than the firm count implies: as of late 2025 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) counted over 15,000 full-power AM and FM signals, many of which roll up into a single firm's establishment count or belong to nonprofits [6]. Where individual and small-nonprofit ownership dominates, the business-statistics view and the spectrum view diverge sharply.

4. Investable universe — where value concentrates

Because this level equals its one child, all the value is in 516110. Radio is unusual: the market leaders are either small public companies or private, there is no mega-cap, and there is no dedicated radio exchange-traded fund (ETF). The largest U.S. owner, iHeartMedia (Nasdaq: IHRT), is public alongside a handful of small-caps — Cumulus Media, Townsquare Media, Urban One, Beasley Broadcast Group, Salem Media Group, and Saga Communications — while the #2 operator (Audacy) and many of the largest owners by signal count are private, family-held, church-affiliated, or nonprofit [9]. A large noncommercial (public radio) sphere sits outside the investable market entirely. The 516110 primer carries the full company table, tickers, and scale figures.

5. How the money works

Radio is a high-fixed-cost, high-operating-leverage advertising business: programming, on-air talent, transmission, towers, and rent are largely fixed, so incremental ad dollars fall to profit — and lost ad dollars fall straight out of it. The core engine is spot advertising (stations sell airtime priced off audience ratings, measured by Nielsen Audio), with local direct advertisers the sticky base and national spot more cyclical. The growth engine is digital audio — station streams, operators' apps, podcasting, and local digital-marketing services — though digital typically monetizes at thinner margins than legacy broadcast. Because these are leveraged operators, investors watch adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization), free cash flow, and leverage more than reported net income [9][11]. Full mechanics — operating metrics, noncommercial economics, and music-royalty costs — are in the 516110 primer.

6. Demand drivers

The main drivers, unchanged from the child level: the advertising cycle (radio ad spend is early-cyclical and falls fast in downturns); in-car listening, radio's fortress, where free live local programming remains valuable; local advertiser health (auto, retail, healthcare, services); political and event cycles (even-year elections lift revenue, off-years give it back); format specialization (news/talk, sports, country, Spanish-language, Black, and religious formats anchor loyal audiences); and digital/cross-platform growth in streaming and podcasts [1].

7. Regulation

Radio is a licensed, FCC-regulated industry. Stations operate under FCC licenses (up to eight-year terms, renewed on a "public interest" standard), and every ownership change needs FCC approval [12]. There is no national ownership cap for radio; local caps (47 CFR §73.3555) limit stations per market on a sliding scale with AM/FM subcaps, and a 2025 FCC quadrennial-review rulemaking is weighing whether to loosen them [13]. Terrestrial radio pays songwriter/publisher royalties but is exempt from a sound-recording performance royalty to artists/labels — an exemption the recurring "American Music Fairness Act" would end [14]. In 2025 Congress rescinded roughly $1.1 billion in Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) funding, a shock to the noncommercial half of the industry that does not directly affect commercial operators [15]. See 516110 for full detail.

8. Consolidation

The defining event was the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which removed national radio ownership limits and unleashed a debt-funded consolidation wave — Clear Channel (now iHeartMedia), Cumulus, and CBS Radio/Entercom (now Audacy) assembled hundreds of stations on borrowed money. The debt outlived the growth: iHeart went through Chapter 11 in 2018–19, Audacy in 2024, and Cumulus in 2026 [15][8]. Competition today is less station-vs-station than radio-vs-all-audio (streaming, satellite, podcasts, and digital advertising), and future mergers are likely to be selective rather than a national roll-up unless the FCC relaxes ownership caps [13].

9. Risks

The key risks — all detailed in 516110 — are the secular decline of OTA (digital may not fully replace lost broadcast revenue, and monetizes thinner); advertising cyclicality amplified by high operating leverage; debt and refinancing risk that can wipe out equity (Audacy's and, per its plan, Cumulus's common shares); connected-car/dashboard competition, including loss of AM in some electric vehicles; cost pressure from talent, sports rights, and any change to the music-royalty exemption; weaker measurement/attribution than digital platforms; and small-cap liquidity and governance risk. The central risk is that audience durability outlasts the financial durability of overleveraged owners [15][8][14].

10. How to invest and the outlook

Public routes mean owning the small-cap operators directly — best treated as leveraged, deep-value/turnaround equities, not growth or dividend staples — analyzing the radio segment (same-station core revenue, audience share, digital growth, political normalization, debt maturities, free cash flow) rather than consolidated revenue, and valuing on enterprise value against adjusted EBITDA. There is no pure radio ETF, so index exposure is minimal. Private routes — most of the industry — mean local station M&A (single stations or market clusters at low cash-flow multiples), distressed-debt/credit in the leveraged operators, or partnership with existing private groups.

Near-term watch items: digital and podcast growth offsetting OTA erosion; the 2026 midterm election cycle as a cyclical tailwind after a soft 2025; possible FCC ownership deregulation that could trigger a fresh consolidation wave; and balance-sheet repair among the leveraged names [9][13]. The forward judgment: a mature, strategically important industry in managed decline with durable cash flow and unmatched local reach, where survivors will be operators with strong local brands, disciplined leverage, and measurable cross-platform sales.

For the complete analysis, see the 516110 (Radio Broadcasting Stations) primer, which this level equals.

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Sources

1. Nielsen, "The Record: Q1 U.S. Audio Listening Trends," 2025 (daily audio; radio share of ad-supported audio). https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2025/the-record-q1-audio-listening-trends/
2. Inside Audio Marketing, "Nielsen: Radio Maintains Dominance In U.S. Audio Market" (~91% monthly reach), 2025. https://www.insideaudiomarketing.com/post/nielsen-radio-maintains-dominance-in-u-s-audio-market
3. U.S. Census Bureau, Economic Census 2022, NAICS 516110 — receipts, firm count, and concentration ratios (CR4/CR8/CR20/CR50; HHI suppressed). https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2022/econ/economic-census/naics-sector-00.html
4. Federal Communications Commission, "Broadcast Station Totals," 2025; Inside Radio, "Radio Station Total Ticks Up In 2025." https://www.fcc.gov/media/broadcast-station-totals
5. iHeartMedia, Inc., 2025 Form 10-K (largest U.S. radio owner; broadcast-radio segment ~$1.63B; total revenue ~$3.86B; digital ~$1.3B), filed 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1400891/000162828026013221/ihrt-20251231.htm
6. Townsquare Media, Inc., 2025 Form 10-K and preliminary 2024 results (revenue ~$450M; digital ~52%). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1499832/000149983226000020/tsq-20251231.htm
7. Cumulus Media, 2025 Form 10-K (393 stations, 84 markets) and 2026 restructuring disclosures (Chapter 11; plan cancels legacy equity, transfers to creditors). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1058623/000105862326000018/cmls-20251231.htm
8. Audacy — Axios, "Audacy Emerges from Bankruptcy as a Private Company," 2024; FCC Order FCC-24-94 (license transfers); Inside Radio (debt cut ~80% to ~$350M; Laurel Tree/Soros ownership). https://www.axios.com/2024/09/30/audacy-emerges-from-bankruptcy-as-a-private-company
9. Connoisseur Media, "Completes Acquisition of Alpha Media" (216 stations, 47 markets; top-10 U.S. broadcaster), 2025. https://connoisseurmedia.com/
10. S&P Global Market Intelligence, "Broadcast outlook 2025: Challenges, opportunities facing US TV, radio stations," 2025. https://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/news-insights/research/2025/10/broadcast-outlook-2025
11. Westwood One / Edison "Share of Ear," Q3 2025 ("AM/FM Radio Dominates Ad-Supported Audio"; AM/FM ~64%), 2025. https://www.westwoodone.com/blog/
12. Federal Communications Commission — broadcast licensing/renewal (47 U.S.C. §307; up-to-8-year terms), public inspection files, political-advertising rules, and Emergency Alert System (EAS). https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/fccs-review-broadcast-ownership-rules
13. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 47 CFR §73.3555 (local radio ownership rule and AM/FM subcaps); FCC 2022 Quadrennial Regulatory Review NPRM, 2025. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-73/subpart-H/section-73.3555
14. Congressional Research Service, "On the Radio: Public Performance Rights in Sound Recordings" (terrestrial exemption; American Music Fairness Act), 2025. https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/PDF/R47642/R47642.2.pdf
15. NPR, "In wake of defunding, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting says it's shutting down" (~$1.1B CPB rescission), 2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/08/01/nx-s1-5489836/in-wake-of-defunding-the-corporation-for-public-broadcasting-says-its-shutting-down